Ancestry Doesn't Have All the Answers

One day last week I decided to tackle a client's brick wall.  In 1850, her 3x great grandfather Marshall Rumbaugh was living in Perry, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, with his wife Cassandra, next to his brother Simeon and his wife Eveline.  

1850 U.S. census, Armstrong, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Perry, p.9A, dwelling 116, family 116, Marshal Rumbaugh; digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 2 Nov 2014); citing NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 749.

By 1860 Marshall is living in Clarion County, Pennsylvania, evidently widowed, with 3 daughters: Martha, Annie and Laura.

1860 U.S. census, Clarion, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Toby, p.663, dwelling 190, family 190, Marshal Rumbarger; digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 2 Nov 2014); citing NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 1095.

A check of Find A Grave revealed the grave of Cassandra Reynolds Rumbaugh, in the Truby-Rumbaugh Cemetery in Hillville, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania.

"Find A Grave," database and images, Find A Grave (http://www.findagrave.com: accessed 2 Nov 2014), memorial page #15,476,910 for Cassandra Reynolds Rumbough (1829-1858); citing records of Truby-Rumbaugh Cemetery, Hillville, Armstrong, Pennsylvania.

And two of his daughters' death certificates verified that their mother's maiden name was Reynolds.

Pennsylvania Dept. of Health, death certificate 17166 for Fanny Lucina Buzard (1936); digital image, "Pennsylvania Death Certificates, 1906-1963," Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 2 Nov 2014).

Pennsylvania Dept. of Health, death certificate 14487 for Laura Jane Painter (1942); digital image, "Pennsylvania Death Certificates, 1906-1963," Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 2 Nov. 2014).

But who were Cassandra Reynolds' parents? A look at several (unsourced) online family trees told me that Marshall's brother Simeon had married Eveline Reynolds, and that she was the right age to possibly have been Cassandra's sister. In order to verify Eveline's maiden name, I went looking for records, and found both the death record and the marriage record for her youngest daughter, Malissa: 

Pennsylvania Dept. of Health, death certificate 35765 for Mellissa Rumbaugh Davis (1941); digital image, "Pennsylvania Death Certificates, 1906-1963," Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 2 Nov. 2014).

Since the maiden name of Melissa Davis' mother on her death certificate is considered secondary information, I needed the marriage record to verify that - which it did.

Gallatin County, Montana, marriage license application #24172 for Phil Davis and Melissa Rumbaugh (1910), digital image, "Montana County Marriages, 1865-1950," Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 23 Oct 2014).

I was still left with my initial question - who were Cassandra's (and possibly Eveline's) parents? A thorough search of online records showed me that no one else had a clue. I looked at county histories (online at Archive.org), and birth, death and marriage records on Ancestry and FamilySearch, as well as several newspaper databases. It was clear - I would have to rely on probate or land records. 
Since FamilySearch has digitized and put online Pennsylvania probate records, I started there, with the probate records for Armstrong County. While there were some wills written by Reynolds men (David, Richard, Absalom and Alexander), none of them named Cassandra. Richard Reynolds had a daughter Evaline, but her married name was Frampton. 


I had struck out on Armstrong County, so I took a look at the map of Pennsylvania Counties as they were in 1850, on the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries (http://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp) 

According to the map, Armstrong County is surrounded by several other counties: Clarion, Jefferson, Indiana, Westmoreland, Allegheny, and Butler. Since Marshall Rumbaugh was living in Clarion County in 1860, I began there. The "Register's and Orphans' Court Record Index" for Clarion County did not reveal any Reynolds wills, but then, to make a thorough search, I looked at the Will Dockets for 1841-1868, vols. A & B. Fortunately there was an index in the front of the volume, which named James P. Reynolds as having a will in Vol. B, page 364.And there I hit pay dirt.

Clarion County Will Book B:364, will of James P. Reynolds (1863); digital image, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org: accessed 30 Oct 2014); imaged from FHL microfilm 1315279.

In this will, written in 1862 and proved in 1863, James P. Reynolds leaves to "my daughter Ureta Jane Boyles one dollar, and this to be in full of her Legacy; and further, I give and bequeath to my daughter Evaline Rumbaugh one dollar, this to be in full of her Legacy; And further, I give & bequeath unto Marshall Rumbaugh, All that Tract of Land, on which I now reside, Containing Sixty one acres & three tenths of an acre, more or less, lying and being in Madison Township, Clarion County, Pennsylvania, to him, his heirs & assigns forever, and further, I give and bequeath unto the said Marshall Rumbaugh, all my good, Stocks, Chattels, rites and Credits, household & kitchen Furniture & Etc...." While James Reynolds does not specify his relationship to Marshall, it's fairly evident that Marshall was his son-in-law, especially since later in the will James binds Marshall, his executor, "for to keep the said James Reynolds & his wife, Martha Reynolds for and during both their natural life times comfortably."

The answer to my question was found in an original record that was not on Ancestry. Any genealogist who relies only on Ancestry is really, really missing out.